PBP Commentary

Coming up we have a bantamweight MMA rules bout between Robbie Rousey (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class) and Ezra Smith (ranked 0 p4p, 0 weight class). This should be fireworks!

Rousey
vs
Smith

175 cm
24
135 lbs
2 - 1 - 0

160 cm
21
135 lbs
0 - 0 - 0

BJJ Purple Belt
Brawler
Good chin

BJJ Blue Belt
Good kicks
Solid chin

Ladies and gentlemen. This fight is 3 rounds, in the bantamweight division.
Introducing the fighter to my left, fighting out of the red corner.
With a record of 2 - 1 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Robbie Rousey!
And introducing the fighter to my right, fighting out of the blue corner.
With a record of 0 - 0 - 0, fighting out of The Island, Ezra Smith!
The judges for this bout are Peter Branson, Bart Greer and Santiago Holmes.

The bell rings for round one and we are underway!

Rousey closes the distance, clinches up and gets a nice trip takedown into side control. Very smooth.
Rousey tries to move to mount but Smith blocks the move with his legs.
The fighters are pressed up against the cage, both looking to find a bit of space to work.
Smith tries to get back to half guard but can't.
Rousey is maintaining the dominant position - no doubt Smith will start to get frustrated soon if he's not already.
Smith is looking for a sweep.
An elbow from Rousey crashes against the mat.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.
Rousey working the body and head with strikes.

Rousey stands up and beckons Smith to his feet.
Rousey closes the distance and clinches up with Smith, looking for a takedown. Rousey pushes Smith against the cage but Smith circles to the side and manages to break the clinch.

Rousey moves into range and clinches up with Smith.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rousey misses with a knee to the head.

Rousey pushes off and circles away, back to the middle of the mat.
Smith scores with a nice one two combo and darts back out of range to avoid anything coming in the opposite direction.
Rousey dives in and grabs Smith's left leg, looking for a takedown. Smith pushes down on Rousey's head and hops out.
Smith is trying hard to land a takedown here. Rousey sprawls well and keeps this one on the feet.
Rousey thinks about countering with a body kick.
Smith keeps the fight standing with a nice sprawl.
That's three failed takedown attempts in the round for Robbie Rousey. That's going to take a lot out of him.
Rousey leaves Smith with his face pressed against the mat as he sprawls beautifully, defending against a solid takedown attempt.
Rousey went nuts there looking for a big combo counter but none of the flurry connected.

Rousey closes the distance and clinches.
Smith tries to pull guard but Rousey won't allow it.
Rousey really does look like a pencil wearing a pair of gloves. Let's hope he has a gameplan to suit that ridiculous body shape.

Rousey jumps guard.
The ref warns both fighters not to hold the cage as they work up against the meshing.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
Smith in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.
Rousey looking to sweep here. No luck so far.
Smith loading up with the ground and pound but he's missing more than he's landing in this flurry.
Rousey has been looking to land a fair amount of strikes on the ground. He might be looking to soften his opponent up in order to work for a submission.
Smith controlling from the top position.
Let's hope that Smith has the urge to step up the pace any second now because for the last 15 or 20 seconds he's just been holding on tight.
Rousey is pulling down on Smith's head to control his posture.
Rousey wants to sweep here but Smith controlling him for the moment.
Smith must be cautious of submissions here, given that his opponent has the superior Jiu Jitsu.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith wanted to stand there but Rousey had control of the position.

The ref stands the fighters back up due to a lack of activity.

Rousey shoots in with a lovely double leg takedown. Smith manages to land in full guard to minimise the damage.
Rousey scores with a decent looking elbow strike.
Smith doesn't do any damage with a couple of strikes from the bottom.
Rousey postures up.
Rousey showing good wrestling skills to control the position.
The fighters are starting to get a bit slippery now, which will make submissions a bit more difficult.
Rousey in full guard, throwing the ground and pound. No damage this time.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith is trying to hold Rousey in close to prevent damage but Rousey has managed to pass into half guard.
Rousey seems content to maintain position for now, rather than mounting any offense.
Rousey is keen to just control but Smith is a slippery customer.
The crowd thankful this round is nearly over.
Smith wants to get back to full guard.
Rousey is trying to control the action in half guard but Smith is working away on the bottom, looking perhaps to get back to full guard.

The referee has decided to stand the fighters back up, so we'll restart on the feet.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Robbie Rousey dominated that round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action.

Smith shoots for a double leg takedown but Rousey sprawls well. He's pushed Smith's face into the mat and manages to get back to his feet relatively easily.

Rousey clinches up against the cage.
Rousey effectively controlling the action here.
Rousey misses the knee to the body. Nice hip positioning from Smith.
Rousey is clearly stalling here... Pick up the pace son.

Rousey pulls guard.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

Rousey pushes Smith off and gets back to his feet.

Rousey drops down and drives through with a powerful takedown into guard.
Robbie Rousey overall seems to be getting the better of the ground position in the fight so far.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Smith is trying to stand up but he's not managed so far.
Rousey will need to keep those long limbs tucked in whilst he's on the ground, to prevent any submissions.
Rousey seems content to control from guard here. He's going to have to remain active though if he doesn't want to get stood back up.
Smith trying to keep a closed guard but Rousey is proving a slippery customer.
Rousey is intent on slowing down the pace of the fight, simply looking to control.
Smith is working an open guard here, looking to improve his position. No doubt that will leave him open to counters but at least he's being more offensive.
Rousey is really dominating this fight. Is there anything that Smith can do to turn this around?
Rousey stays in close to Smith's body and controls the position.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are starting to boo a lack of action.
Smith is striking but Rousey is not phased and passes to half guard.

Rousey is trying to work for a kimura. This could be trouble! No, Smith has managed to free his arm - good work.
Smith is trying to control but can't.
Smith is trying to control but Rousey manages to pass to mount!
Smith looking to escape from mount but he's given up his back!

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Rousey punishes Smith with strikes from the back mount.

Rousey is persistently looking for the submission but Smith is defending it well.
Rousey controlling well, preventing Smith from escaping the position.
I would not like to be Smith right now.

Rousey working for a RNC but it's not happening just yet.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith just trying to survive but Rousey is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Smith is trying to break free.
Smith just trying to survive but Rousey is wriggling into a better position, looking to finish.
Rousey controls the position.
Smith tries to break free.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!

Rousey looking for the choke but no joy.
Smith tries to escape the position.
And that’s the end of the round – the fighters go back to their corners.

Robbie Rousey dominated that second round.
That's the end of the interval. I'm sure that seemed a lot quicker than a minute for our two fighters! Back to the action. This is the final round!

Decent striking displayed by Smith there.
Smith looks frustrated there after his takedown attempt is stuffed easily.
Rousey has his front leg slapped to the side - a nice low kick landing there from Smith.

Smith gets caught napping as Rousey dives in and scores a takedown. Smith manages to retain guard.
Smith keeping busy, throwing shots from the bottom.
Rousey content to stall in guard here.
We've had a slow start to the round here - hopefully the action picks up.

That's one minute gone in the round.
Rousey's ground tactics aren't going to win him many fans. Let's hope he's got fireworks for us if he gets back to his feet because he's not doing much on the ground.
Rousey slips effortlessly into side control - very nice.
Smith tries to control but end up mounted... ooooh, that's bad.
Smith wants to control but Rousey is having none of it.

That's two minutes gone in the round.
The crowd are hurling abuse towards the fighters... You can hardly blame them though because there isn't a lot going on in the fight.
Rousey can't quite control the action as he would like just now, as Smith is looking to escape.

Rousey get's back to his feet.
Rousey keeps the fight on the outside.

Smith shoots in for a takedown! He's got it and he's managed to land in side control! That's better than Smith was expecting from the takedown attempt, I'm sure!
Smith wants to control for a moment but Rousey uses the opportunity to move back to half guard.
Rousey is staying active underneath Smith, who seems content to just control the action from this position.

That's three minutes gone in the round.
Smith throwing shots but Rousey is blocking nicely.
Rousey is working for an escape here. He's hooked one of Smith's legs and he's managed to sneak out and take Smith's back!
Rousey has good solid back control here.
Smith is defending well here and trying to improve his position.
Smith trying to control but not successfully.

That's four minutes gone in the round.
Smith is very frustrated here, being controlled quite effectively by Rousey.
Smith trying to control but not successfully.
Rousey trying to control momentarily.
Boooooooooooooooooooo!!! God, this has been a terrible round. Come on you two, sort yourselves out!
Rousey biding his time, looking for the opening.

And that's the end of the fight!
Robbie Rousey showed his dominance in that final round.
Well I reckon that's a shut out for Rousey, winning every round. Will the judges agree? They are the ones who matter, even if they are often depressingly incompetent. Over to the ring announcer for the scorecards.

Ladies and gentlemen, after 3 rounds of action, we go to the scorecards for a decision.
Judge Peter Branson scores the fight 30:26
Judge Bart Greer scores the fight 30:26
Judge Santiago Holmes scores the fight 30:26

In favor of your winner, by unanimous decision... Robbie Rousey!